On the emergence of phase-triggering suffixes in Czech or How domček became domeček

A B S T R A C TThis paper analyzes Czech double diminutives ending in -eček created by the recursive application of the suffix -ek whose initial vowel alternates with zero. Diachronically speaking, these diminutives display both patterns of V-zero alternations found in Slavic languages: in OCz they follow the Havlík pattern, where alternants are in complementary distribution (domøček), while in MoCz they follow the Lower pattern, where strong alternants (i.e. vowels) are always preceded by strong alternants (domeček). The analysis of the Havlík-to-Lower change presented follows Rubach’s (1984) classical analysis where the Lower pattern is derived from the cyclic application of the Lower rule which means that only the Lower pattern has internal phase structure. I argue that in the Lower pattern, all floating vowels in a row (except the final one) vocalize, because each is immediately followed by an empty nucleus which stands at the phase boundary. Furthermore, phasehood is a lexical property, i.e. a property of a particular lexical item, namely the diminutive suffix -ek. From this perspective, the Havlík-to-Lower change consists in a change in the properties of the lexicon: only in MoCz is the suffix -ek lexically specified as a phase-trigger, in OCz it did not trigger any phase.